Question Laptop vs Desktop? Help please?

[mbageology1990]

Hello Everyone! Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions!

Here is my conundrum:

I do travel for work and leisure (wife is European so we head across the pond a few times a year, may relocate there in a year or two). I play really only 4 games WoW, FF14, SC2, WC3 Reforged.

The goal is to play at 4k with FPS 100+ on ultra settings. Will either/both of these do the job?

Laptop (I would get a docking station and get a quality 4k monitor when I’m home which is probably 75%)
-12th gen i9 (12900H)
-16G DDR6 RTX 3080 Ti
-1TB SSD M.2
-32G DDR5 @ 5200Mhz dual channel
-laptop top display is 15.6", QHD 2560x1440, 240Hz, Non-Touch, 2ms, but I would connect via docking station to a high quality 4k gaming monitor when at home.

Desktop (again, I would get a high quality 4k gaming monitor)
-12th gen i9 (12900KF)
-12G DDR6X RTX 3080 Ti (I could go to the RTX 3090 but is that overkill for these games? Or necessary for 100 FPS at 4k?)
-1TB SSD M.2
-64G DDR5 @ 4440Mhz

Bottom line, is it even possible to get WoW/FF14 at 100 FPS at 4K with ultra settings or is technology not there yet?

What are your thoughts? Laptop with external display and the just the laptop when traveling or go for a desktop? Are there big differences between laptop and desktop GPUs and CPUs?

Thank you in advance for your time and help!

 

[Lafong]

Laptops have a number of specific issues that are not found in desktops.

Some of the issues will affect gaming.

Others will affect usage totally unrelated to gaming.

If you do NOT need the portability aspect of a laptop, why volunteer for those issues?

 

[ötzi]

Yes and no, a 3080Ti in a desktop will get 100+ fps on average in WoW an FF14 but has framedrops to around 80 fps. A mobile GPU will perform about 40% less to it's desktop counterpart so there your answer is a clear no for the most part.

 

[fatkindaslim2828]

you could also get a one of the new either intel or amd mini pcs that are actually pretty beast whole thing is the size of big mac box. and as far as peripherals a simple wireless dongle keyboard or mouse combo. and if you travel a lot as long as theres a tv in the hotel room. you could always use a wireless hdmi or just hdmi to mini hdmi or display port to the system. i ll link both versions. saves a lot of space and you can get some that are actually pretty beefy.

https://www.amd.com/en/products/embedded-minipc-solutions theres a video there too.. and the intel one is https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/details/nuc/mini-pcs.html

they are slightly pricey depending but i only suggest this so that you have possibility of expansion. where in laptops bigger ssd or cloud. but their screens for me at least arent as vibrant if your trying to stay in a budget as well. desktops i mean i transitioned from a msi gaming laptop to what i have now only because of the beer bug situation. just my opinion. if you spend say 2500usd on a laptop you will always end up needing to buy another one when the specs are no longer capable or when they stop supporting them. you can easily spend 2500 on a desktop and have a lot of expansion choices. you cant upgrade laptop cpu or apu and to fix them like if a fan breaks are such a pain to take apart. so i guess these mini pcs are like the half and half.. its small enough to fit in your bag and powerful enough that you have a desktop (not the type of desktops a lot of people here build im sure of it so dont murder me for comparing it monster workstation. )

 

[mbageology1990]

I know c

Laptops have a number of specific issues that are not found in desktops.

Some of the issues will affect gaming.

Others will affect usage totally unrelated to gaming.

If you do NOT need the portability aspect of a laptop, why volunteer for those issues?

I know cooling can be issue. What other issues are there? The portability is needed but not an absolute necessity (we only go to Europe around 2-4 times a year. If we move there then the whole thing would just come too).

 

[mbageology1990]

Yes and no, a 3080Ti in a desktop will get 100+ fps on average in WoW an FF14 but has framedrops to around 80 fps. A mobile GPU will perform about 40% less to it's desktop counterpart so there your answer is a clear no for the most part.

Is this on max/ultra settings at 4k?

 

[ötzi]

Yes, 4K with highest settings, WoW and FF14.

 

[Lafong]

I know cooling can be issue. What other issues are there? The portability is needed but not an absolute necessity (we only go to Europe around 2-4 times a year. If we move there then the whole thing would just come too).

I'm guessing you are indifferent to all of the following because you did not think of them:

Price/performance ratio

Compromises made in design to save weight and bulk (due to miniaturization, cramped cases, dozens of tiny screws, special "know-how" that applies to laptops only, etc)

Cost of repair if you can't or won't do your own repairs.

Anything related to the display.

Difficult/impossible to change motherboards

RAM upgrading may be limited

Limited number of CPUs and therefore CPU horsepower available regardless of cost.

Ergonomic issues possibly related to keyboard or?

Fragility that would come into play if dropped or mishandled.

Likelihood of theft

I'm sure others can think of more.

 

[mbageology1990]

I'm guessing you are indifferent to all of the following because you did not think of them:

Price/performance ratio

Compromises made in design to save weight and bulk (due to miniaturization, cramped cases, dozens of tiny screws, special "know-how" that applies to laptops only, etc)

Cost of repair if you can't or won't do your own repairs.

Anything related to the display.

Difficult/impossible to change motherboards

RAM upgrading may be limited

Limited number of CPUs and therefore CPU horsepower available regardless of cost.

Ergonomic issues possibly related to keyboard or?

Fragility that would come into play if dropped or mishandled.

Likelihood of theft

I'm sure others can think of more.

You’re absolutely correct. Most of those I’m indifferent to. Cost isn’t an issue to me, if I couldn’t afford it, I wouldn’t be buying it. In terms of dropping it, well I’m an adult, if I drop it then I have myself to blame and have to deal with me being an idiot who dropped his laptop. I play the games, but in terms of computer hardware knowledge, I am severely lacking (obviously). Haven’t had any ergonomic issues yet, but who knows, it could happen. 🤷‍♂️ My gaming sessions are not marathon length. An average week, my ability to game is approximately 3-5 hours per week, it’s a hobby I enjoy.

 

[mbageology1990]

Is a laptop with the specs above paired with an high quality external 4k monitor when home even feasible to achieve 100+ FPS (WoW, SWTOR, FFF14) or is the 3080 Ti laptop version just not got enough umph to it?

 

[Lafong]

Given that, I'd guess it's purely a matter of whether you can get the performance you want out of a laptop, any laptop whatsoever.

If you can, then buy that laptop.

If you can't, buy a desktop that will provide that performance.

I can't comment on gaming capabilities because other than the occasional riveting game of solitaire or hearts, I don't game.

 

[mbageology1990]

Given that, I'd guess it's purely a matter of whether you can get the performance you want out of a laptop, any laptop whatsoever.

If you can, then buy that laptop.

If you can't, buy a desktop that will provide that performance.

I can't comment on gaming capabilities because other than the occasional riveting game of solitaire or hearts, I don't game.

That is exactly correct! The laptop provides a measure of portability for when I travel, mainly to Europe, it I’m not gone more than a few months a year, usually only month or so at a time. Plus it’s a pain to remember the adapters and so on too when bring it to Europe. So I began to question to the need for portability if I’m home 75% of the time and not on the road. My last laptop worked fine, it was an RTX 3080 i9 2k. The motherboard was defective and crapped out in 4 months. After arguing with the manufacturer after it was sent off for repairs for 3 months, I finally just got a refund. The laptop wasn’t cheap, it was a smidge over $3k.

 

[kurapan]

I can't really comment on WoW, SWTOR, and FFF14 specifically, but for other more recent games that are often used for benchmarks, laptop versions of 3080 Ti average somewhere around 50~60 FPS. The lowest ones are for example Cyberpunk and Dying Light 2 with about 30 fps on average, then among the higher ones there's for example Doom Eternal at 120 fps and Death Stranding at 80 fps. However, that's average fps and you will experience fps drops so the fps lows (in scenes that are the most demanding for gpu) can be significantly lower.
You probably should be getting average fps of at least 100 or close to 100 in the games you listed since they are older titles, but desktop performance would be much more stable. It all comes down to how much you value the portability and if you want to be able to play games when you're on travel.

Btw will you be able to use a 4k monitor when you travel? If not, then it might be kind of a waste. You might as well consider the option of getting a high-end gaming desktop PC and a cheaper gaming laptop, particularly if you say that money isn't really an issue.

 

[mbageology1990]

I can't really comment on WoW, SWTOR, and FFF14 specifically, but for other more recent games that are often used for benchmarks, laptop versions of 3080 Ti average somewhere around 50~60 FPS. The lowest ones are for example Cyberpunk and Dying Light 2 with about 30 fps on average, then among the higher ones there's for example Doom Eternal at 120 fps and Death Stranding at 80 fps. However, that's average fps and you will experience fps drops so the fps lows (in scenes that are the most demanding for gpu) can be significantly lower.
You probably should be getting average fps of at least 100 or close to 100 in the games you listed since they are older titles, but desktop performance would be much more stable. It all comes down to how much you value the portability and if you want to be able to play games when you're on travel.

Btw will you be able to use a 4k monitor when you travel? If not, then it might be kind of a waste. You might as well consider the option of getting a high-end gaming desktop PC and a cheaper gaming laptop, particularly if you say that money isn't really an issue.

Really good points! Thank you for the insight!

 

[King Dranzer]

Portable Desktop is the way to go.

Where do you live. We can put up a suitable list for you.